SOUNDARA PANDIAN Vs. VISWANATHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by the complainant against the order of acquittal. The facts of the case are summarily as follows :

(2.) The complainant is a member of the Legislative Assembly. The two accused are known to the complainant. They all belonged to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Party. In the year 1972 there was a split in the party and a new party under the name Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was founded. The complainant joined that party. There were several allegations levelled against the D. M. K. Ministry by the dissident party. On 14-8-1973, on the floor of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, the then Chief Minister referred to a letter purported to have been written by one of the members then belonging to the A.D.M.K. Party wherein the said member had promised the addressee of the letter a Director's post if he collected funds for presenting a car to him. On 27-11-1973, the complainant spoke forcefully in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly about the corruption of the Ministry. In his reply, the then Chief Minister asked the complainant whether he had not written a letter promising the post of Director if the addressee gave car fund and paid expenses for his journey to Madras. The complainant denied the same. The Chief Minister then read out a letter purported to have been written by the complainant to A-1, the contents of which are as follows : In the evening edition of the daily 'Navamani' dt. 27-11-1973, the contents of the letter read out by the Chief Minister were published. At his request, the complainant was subsequently shown the letter Ex. P.-6 by the Speaker. On coming to know that the body of the letter had been written by the second accused, he came to the conclusion that the letter was forged and then obtained a photostat copy of the letter. Thereupon, he filed a complaint against both the accused for offences under Ss. 469, 471 and 500, I.P.C. A-2 pleaded guilty and was accordingly convicted and sentenced. A-1 pleaded not guilty. The trial Court, by judgment dt. 18-12-1978, acquitted A-1 of all the charges. It is against the acquittal of A-1, that the present appeal is preferred.

(3.) As far as the charge under S. 469, I.P.C, is concerned, the trial Court found that there was no evidence whatsoever and the same was conceded by the learned counsel for the complainant before the trial Court itself. Therefore, the order of acquittal is beyond reproach as far as this point is concerned.